Various configurations of lifting devices are known in the prior art which include a handle and a hook member supported thereon for gripping an object. Known configurations of hook members are typically curved in profile or lie at an awkward angle in relation to a shaft of the lifting device such that it would be awkward or impossible to lift large heavy objects such as pre-cast concrete panels and blocks. Furthermore, known prior art designs of lifting devices generally do not permit the hook member thereof to be received within the narrow gap typically located between adjacent slabs in a sidewalk formed of pre-cast concrete slabs lying adjacent one another.